The invention relates to a boot serving simultaneously to protect the lower limbs of humans against the deflagration of explosive devices of the antipersonnel mine type, and to allow a person to walk or run on any type of terrain.
The present state of the art presents two types of protection for the lower limbs against the deflagration of explosive devices:
Rigid armoring (armored soles mounted on a walking boot) which make walking possible while providing protection against shrapnel but which are ineffective against the energy conveyed by the blast wave and the shock wave, which waves give rise to the major portion of the destructive effects leading to irreparable lesions in man and often leading to amputation.
Appliances for dispersing the blast waves. Dispersion is performed by the geometrical shape of the sole, referred to below as a xe2x80x9cboat-shapexe2x80x9d, which is generally in the form of a triangular or wedge-shaped prism with a downwardly-directed ridge or xe2x80x9ckeelxe2x80x9d formed by two faces of the dispersion boat-shape meeting. These boat-shapes are fixed to the bottom portion of a boot and present the following characteristics:
either they are incorporated in a rigid mass to make walking possible, but the dispersion effect is then considerably reduced. The plane surface created in this way transmits practically all of the effects of the blast wave.
In addition, the mass covering the boat-shape will be broken into pieces that (depending on the material concerned) can constitute puncturing projectiles that give rise to lesions. (This applies to patent GB 2 191 384 to Dalzell, Goldsmith, and Hudson, and to U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,898 to Lewis and Holland);
or the boat-shape is left in the air and fitted with a xe2x80x9cskatexe2x80x9d type support beneath the ridge of the prism. The skate is unsuitable for balanced walking or for use on all types of terrain. (This applies to U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,181 to Jordan);
the above-mentioned boat-shapes suffer from another drawback: like an orthosis, they are fixed beneath a walking boot by straps or belts attached by buckles (Lewis, Dalzell, and Jordan patents). The assembly comprising the boot and the protective appliance thus does not constitute an assembly that is homogeneous and integral. Thus, in the event of deflagration, the protection appliance is torn away and becomes a projectile causing additional injuries:
finally, none of those appliances provides protection against the flame of the explosion. For example, the temperature can reach 4000xc2x0 C. during the initial stage of an explosion.